back to article Spanish fascist decries Franco Eurovision slur

There was a time when if you had a pop at Spanish fascists they'd have you up against the wall quicker then you could say "¡Viva la Republica!" Times have changed, of course, and now it's entirely permissable to suggest that Franco rigged the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest so Cliff Richard's Congratulations had to bend over to …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Story dated 2008-05-06

    You've got to hand it to those fascist, they're bloody quick on the uptake. Either that or they've take mañana to a new level.

    1. Jimmy Floyd
      Big Brother

      He's dead, Jim.

      The flamer might also like to question his own linguistic skills and / or grasp of history since "Viva Franco" is an imperative form of the verb "to live" (usually translated into English as "long live"); thus he is commanding, or directly requesting, the somewhat deceased General to rise from the grave....

      ...which is utterly fucking retarded.

      Big Brother icon, because there's something about embarrassing fascists that causes them to go for comically laughable moustaches.

      1. Nick Haw
        Jobs Horns

        Although

        Although, "The Return of Zombie Franco", sounds like a cracking film...

      2. PirateSlayer
        Pint

        Gah

        Beat me to it.

        Anyway, VIVA CHE, VIVA MAO, VIVA LENIN.

        There, that reset the balance.

      3. Danny 14
        Stop

        aye

        I, for one, welcome our undead facist overlord.

      4. Elmer Phud

        Ask Franc (o)

        There is also the bit about not being a murderer.

        O.K. technically he never flew any of the Stukas but he did open the door for a bit of weapons development to try and clear up a smal bit of local trouble.

        But will the flamer also say that Picasso was a great painter having done a wee sketch about another small incident?

      5. A. Coatsworth Silver badge
        Headmaster

        RE: He's dead, Jim.

        That's not necessarily true. In this context, "viva" would be better translated as "hail" or any other salutation formula.

        You can say "VIVA..." just anything, alive or not: a place (¡Viva España!), a date (¡Viva el 15 de setiembre!), an event (¡Viva la Revolución!) a sports team, a person, etc, etc.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Yes; see example in "For whom the bell tolls"

          The girl shouts "vivan mis padres" just before they shoot her, and just after they have shot her parents in front of her.

        2. I Like Heckling Silver badge
          Joke

          @ A.Cotsworth

          "You can say "VIVA..." just anything, alive or not: a place (¡Viva España!), a date (¡Viva el 15 de setiembre!), an event (¡Viva la Revolución!) a sports team, a person, etc, etc."

          ** VIVA Vauxhall :)

          ** You'd need to be over 30 and aware of UK cars to get the slight attempt at humour there. :)

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Happy

          VIVA HC!

          was a crap car, really.

      6. Steven Walker
        Thumb Down

        Balls

        Looks to me like the subjunctive which translates as something like "long live Franco"

        This sort of language is not that unusual as José Millán-Astray when Commander of the Spanish Foreign Legion during the civil war introduced the war cry of "viva la muerte" or "long live death". I think it it was to show that that they had at least double the cojones of Franco. Se El Reg story

        http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/18/franco_huevo/

      7. Daniel B.
        Headmaster

        El Grito del 15 de Septiembre

        Ever heard about the Mexican "Grito de Independencia"? It is mostly used as "Hail" or something like that.

        The idiocy of this guy, however, is to claim that Franco wasn't a murderer. This guy practically made "garrote" a "legal" execution method. Saying that Franco was not a murderer is like saying Hitler wasn't a mass murderer.

        And no, Godwin's law doesn't apply to this comment space, as Franco actually had a helping hand from the Third Reich, as those who live (or survive) in Guernica can attest.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Boffin

          Garotte

          Didn't practically make it a legal execution method. It WAS the preferred method of carrying the death sentence for most, if not all of Franco's post-civil war years.

          And on a separate note, even though Spain won, the BBC ended up having to ship all the equipment and expertise for RTVE to do the live broadacst from Prado Del Rey. RTVE had to build two new studios, and the equipment was sold to them by the BBC as part of the deal. I known this because I did a show for Miguel Rios in one of those same two studios, still with most of the original gear, 19 years later.

      8. Vincent Ballard
        Alert

        Grammar Falangist

        Viva can be the formal second person singular imperative, but in this kind of context it's far more likely to be the third person singular present subjunctive.

        1. william henderson 1

          yes centurion, certainly centurion...

          i'll write it out a thousand times

        2. John Lodge
          Thumb Up

          Grammar Falangist

          Nice!

      9. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Actually…

        Well, "viva" is used as "hail" more often than not. For "long live…" one could use "que viva…", which clarifies the imperative voice a bit, and even so…

      10. Arthur Dent
        Headmaster

        re: he's dead

        @Jimmy Floyd: To understand what "Viva Franco" actually means you could try using a decent Spanish dictionary.

        The 22nd edition of the Diccionario de la Lengua Española of La Real Academia Española gives twelve meanings for the verb "vivir", of which one (the seventh) is specifically applicable after death/ It has nothing to do with life after death or rising from the grave or anything of that sort, as this dictionary definition is "Mantenerse o durar en la fama o en la memoria después de muerto" - now just take the secon person singular imperative of that and you have the meaning or "Viva" in "Viva Franco".

        You can check this at

        http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=vivir

    2. Anton Ivanov
      Flame

      Probably not Spanish manana

      About 12 years back I tried to tell a collegue of LatAm descent the joke about "avrio being manana without the sense of urgency". He looked at me with a blank stare and answered: "That is Spanish manana, you have not seen Latin American manana mate..."

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have a problem with this article

    To quote :"Anyone who doesn't agree with our pinko liberal bias will, of course, end up dead in a ditch with a bullet in the back of his head."

    You do realise that if this is reported to the police in the UK; they are actually frickin' retarded enough to arrest the author the article for threatening behaviour? Dare I mention we also have some extremely retarded members of the judiciary who will gladly throw the author and accomplices in the slammer?

    1. Sir Runcible Spoon

      Sir

      I reckon that's why there's a little ® at the end of the sentence.

    2. BristolBachelor Gold badge

      @AC

      Yeah, that's true, and is probably why I suspect that dear old Lester has moved to Spain. The lunatics here are not as bad...

    3. Ted Treen
      Welcome

      @El Reg

      "Anyone who doesn't agree with our pinko liberal bias will, of course, end up dead in a ditch with a bullet in the back of his head. ®"...

      ...and in common with the other workers' paradise states, will you be invoicing the victim's - sorry, -perpetrator's family for the coust of the bullet?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Philip II

    What?? Comparing Franco and Philip II? Philip II, that bloody son of an inmigrant!! (Charles I). Philip II, that for a time was married with one of those bloody English that occupy the sacred soil of Gibraltar!! That's insulting!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    So you've just received a flame...

    ...referencing an article you published back in May. *2008*.

    The "mañana" jokes sort of write themselves, don't they?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Not a bad response time

      ...we have to wait for internet until it's percolated through Telefonica

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    <checks on YouTube>

    Actually, LaLaLa wasn't _that_ bad. And - let's be honest - it's not as if Con-friggin-gratu-soddin-lations was exactly a high water mark in popular culture, is it?

    B'sides, she's a damn sigh cuter than Cliff. Not that that's particularly difficult.

    1. Viv
      Thumb Up

      Con-friggin-gratu-soddin-lations

      Obviously i have to recognize the creative use of the language when I see it, definitely worth an up vote for Con-friggin-gratu-soddin-lations

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I don't understand

        I may have been just a kid, but I definately remember those were the words. I remember Cliff's bitter, distorted face spitting them out like a crooner with Tourettes.

  6. TeeCee Gold badge
    FAIL

    FoTW?

    Nul points for that (even if you translated it into Spanish and submitted it in 1968).

    Ok, there's some swearing, the writer's obviously right up on his high horse and hasn't got a leg to stand on, but proper punctuation and correct capitalisation*? Starting a sentance with "And" isn't enough to make up for that.

    Very poor......

    *I guess that the commies were right and the bourgeois intelligentsia are actually fascist running-dog lackeys after all.

    1. Grivas Bo Diddly Harm
      Unhappy

      Here Hear

      I have to agree with TeeCee - it's fails on too many criteria to be considered FOTW. Leaving aside his opinions for a moment, it is well capitalised and punctuated.

      He even uses paragraphs and fails to fall into the standard FOTW your/you're trap for goodness' sake! Only two exclamation marks in the whole letter, and those could be construed ironically.

      I must say, I strongly deprecate the rising standard of these flames. There's just no fun any more.

  7. jake Silver badge

    Eurovision "song" contest?

    Mindless drivel pap contest, more like ... And undoubtedly the ancestor of the over-produced, badly written, so-called "reality TV" shows that infest network television today.

    The fact that people get extremely political and/or nationalistic over this crap is sad, in the old meaning of the word.

    1. Ian Yates
      Joke

      "Mindless drivel pap contest"

      "Pap (n)

      1. (Anat.) A nipple; a mammilla; a teat."

      Really? I'll have to start watching it!

      1. jake Silver badge

        @Ian Yates

        http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pap%5B2%5D?show=0&t=1287149610

        Enjoy.

        1. Darryl
          WTF?

          NOT a title

          I thought we were only allowed to refernce the Oxford dictionary on el Reg, on pain of ridicule and old tired jokes about "real" English...

          http://oxforddictionaries.com/search?searchType=dictionary&isWritersAndEditors=true&searchUri=All&q=pap&contentVersion=WORLD

    2. Roger Varley

      Eurovision

      It used to be worth watching for Wogans commentary alone!

    3. heyrick Silver badge

      On the other hand...

      Eurovision is good for seeing how comically out of touch some countries can be. And as a benefit, although the contest is spread over three nights due to the size of Europe, at least the votes are made, collated, and announced on the night. No agonising sing-offs and all the other pop-idol crap, it's a three hour (roughly) programme and at the end of it is a winner.

      All in all, SEVEN hours of programming a year isn't much to ask, is it? Coronation Street takes that in a week, what with the rebroadcasts and "omnibus edition".

  8. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
    Troll

    I'm going to push the boat out here

    and suggest that maybe both songs were shit. I would also dare to suggest that perhaps *ALL* eurovision songs are shit.

    1. hugo tyson

      "all eurovision songs are shit" ?

      except Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah" of course.

  9. RMartin

    Franco?

    Hitler once said he would rather have his teeth pulled out than endure another meeting with Franco... hm, perhaps the FotW has a point. Hopefully there is a hell where both events are happening simultaneously.

  10. Tron Silver badge

    Evening all.

    You're all nicked under s127 of the Communications Act 2003.

    On the spot fines and the cessation of your net connections. Can't have you being grossly offensive about mass murdering dictators online.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Guernica

    Or your minds might wander...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II

    1. Dave 15

      Dresden?

      Yup, we flattened it, not the only German city to be flattened either. However having discussed this with people in Cologne (site of the first 1000+ bomber raid) it is clear even the Germans accept that they started the war and that in war damage - sometimes a hell of a lot of damage - is done.

      What would be interesting to remember are other facts:

      a) Hitler hadn't really wanted to start the war that early because he wanted more time to build strength BUT that the weakness of the UK made his generals itchy to get going.

      b) Had we had the balls and brains to listen to Churchill and rebuild our military early enough we would have won quicker and avoided such destruction.

      c) If we hadn't so dangerously weakened our military (so they were short of equipment - my Grandad remembers the promises of protection for the army lorries that still hadn't arrived by Dunkirk) we would have been able to stand up to Hitler instead of coming back with a piece of toilet paper.

      d) The Russians - for all Stalins faults - suffered - and then inflicted - a good deal more deaths than we did.

      So STOP the stupid beating us all up over bombing a city and look at the way we are currently weakening our already weak military and appreciate the lessons of history and the dangers we are putting ourselves in front of.

      With democracy anyone can be elected (Hitler was along with many other dictators and unpleasant leaders ... quite a few of our own) and what might seem safe now (like relying on the USA for defence) might prove very stupid in a year or two (who knows what might happen in the USA next election or when the oil runs out... don't forget we have some).

      1. The Other Steve
        Pint

        Don't mention the war!

        You mentioned it once, but I think you got away with it.

  11. SlackerUK
    WTF?

    FoTW?

    If that's the hottest flame you have managed to incite this week then you should be ashamed!

    Get your fingers out and start making derisive comments pronto!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Eurovision and Franco

    Didn't he sing: Line 'em up against the wall ??

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    So is he saying...?

    That Philip II and the his backing vocalists "The Aramadas" would have beaten Sir Francis Richard in a Eurovision sing-off?

    Uuurgh - fascists make me sound like AManFronMars.

  14. BristolBachelor Gold badge
    Troll

    Franco

    There is a very big cross on the hillside where I live dedicated to some of what happened under Franco.

    <tounge in cheek>

    However, he didn't do anything bad, he just started defending us against the terrorists(*) before the americans did.

    (*) terrorist = anyone you don't like (from the american english dictionary).

    Should I show my photo to everyone in my street / calle now?

    1. Ian Tunnacliffe

      You in Paracuellos?

      If so the cross is dedicated to Francoists murdered by Republicans.

      No question in my mind, the Republicans were on the whole the good guys and the Falange definitely the bad guys - but there were definitely atrocities on both sides.

  15. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    Eurovision

    Why, Sir Rich Cliffard should be happy with his narrow escape - what could be more humiliating that a Eurovision win?

    1. Somerset John
      Pint

      How Embarrassing?

      Errrrr........Being Criff Litchard

  16. Cazzo Enorme

    The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

    "Anyone who doesn't agree with our pinko liberal bias will, of course, end up dead in a ditch with a bullet in the back of his head."

    Although to play Devil's Advocate, in the Spanish Civil War ia wishy washy liberal was as likely to end up with a bullet in the back of the bonce from either the Fascists or Republicans. Despite the idealism and heroism of the foreign volunteers, which has become the focus of our popular view of the war, both sides were infested with murdering, ideological loons (see Beevor's book for details).

    1. The Indomitable Gall

      True, but...

      ...there wouldn't have been an "other side" if the Falange hadn't outsted the democratically elected government, in order to defend "traditional Spanish values" from the Spanish people, who didn't actually hold them to start off with.

      If it wasn't for the war, the craziest nutters in some of the fringe anarchist groups would never have gained prominence, but when it comes to shooting you neighbours, being an amoral self-serving b*st*rd is a useful qualification.

  17. The Other Steve
    Paris Hilton

    If I were a horny fascist dictator*

    I'd make damn sure the local girl with the short dress won, even if I was more likely to get noshed off by Cliff.

    *Real Soon Now. Phear!

  18. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    another fail

    IT WASN'T ALL IN CAPS!!!!!! YOU CANNOT HAVE A FOTW WITHOUT CAPS!!!!!!!

  19. JuanMaBlue
    Pirate

    Franco is dead and forgotten in Spain

    I'm Spanish. Believe me: Franco is as dead here as Stalin is in Russia and just in a little better shape than Hitler in Germany. BTW: Our democracy stinks but that doesn't make me miss the old mot**rfu**er

  20. Daniel B.
    Thumb Down

    Your Catalan is showing....

    The flamer seems to have not read the article (and damn, 2 years to bring out a flame?) otherwise he would know that La La La didn't have the "lalala" lyrics at all. It was a song in Catalan, which at the time was banned ... by Franco. So his "Generalisimo" Fürher actually ruined the song because of his beliefs.

    Franco worshippers, Neo-Nazis, Hitler Lovers and Pinochet worshippers are all lumped in the same category by me. I would add Pol Pot sympathists, but I doubt there are any of those left, even in Cambodia.

  21. ian 22
    Coat

    He calls himself a fascist?

    Bloody Red if you ask me! Best since Felipe II? The fellow is a modernist, a cosmopolitan!

    Phillip II was a fop! Now his father, Carlos Quinto, there's a King a true fascist could hail!

    Mines the one with the falangist armband.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Song Contest Winner

    Okay, slightly off topic, but if you want to see someone who should have run away with a song contest, you've GOT to see the performance of Ken Lee.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5f6XkGBBOg

  23. tom 24
    Pint

    Unsatisfying...

    I can't be alone in this. This week's flame addresses some very humorous issues that warrant further "discussion", to be sure, but as a flame it leaves me somehow unsatisfied. What is it that is wrong? I suggest that it is the good grammar. Oh, sure, there should be a comma after "And" and there are some other minor errors. But, all in all, the grammar is better than your average comment in your average civil discussion forum, and the spelling is excellent.

    It's really more the "Rude and Somewhat Heated Negative Feedback Of The Week." But I guess it'll have to do.

    Is it time for a beer yet? Please?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Unsatisfying...

      Lester was a Spanish translator in a previous life, so it is possible that he prettied up the original for our delectation...

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This just in...

    ...generalissimo Francisco Franco, is still dead.

  25. kain preacher

    @Dave 15

    Don't worry mate. When the oil runs out we will head south, starting with Mexico. That way we can get the oil and declare a victory on the war on drugs.

  26. Michael Dunn
    Coat

    Philip?

    So our fascist liked Philip, did he? I'm reminded of the lines from Lepanto:

    King Philip's in his chamber that is soft and black as sin,

    And little dwarfs creep out of it, and little dwarfs creep in.

    Palgrave in the pocket, and if anyone remembers that, then they must be even older than me.

  27. Chaosechoz
    WTF?

    Well that about wraps it up for Franco...

    Sorry to say it but actually being a Spanish person, from Spain might I add (who'dathunkit!) We learnt all there was to know about the "General" Franco from an early age.

    And the story goes thus....

    Teacher "Franco was a great man for bringing blah blah twoodle and crap on about some other rubbish"

    Student... "Actually Teacher, Franco was a half balled raving Nut job who executed innocent people because they voiced their opinions in public. Going on to say that Franco was the best thing to happen to Spain is like saying Sangria was the first influential Drink to ever make a top ten hit...." And So on...

    Teacher... "WTF? LA GUARDIA MATA LO!"

    6 burly police stroll in, drag the poor student off and promptly execute him for voicing his opinion in public...

    Spanish schools taught us that (depending where your from orginially in Spain) Franco was a great man... (which we all know is a load of dingos kidneys!)

    For someone to voice off in such a "violent" manner about Franco is somewhat retarded....

    VIVA EL REG!

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